Up & Coming

(Hollywood Theatre) Tonight will be less a jazz show and more an event; the focused intensity of the DSW Quartet is without boundaries. Often called "Coltrane's Heir" by the press, Ware follows in the man's giant steps. But it is more in terms of Trane's explicit focus on spirituality in his music than in technique or tone; in that department, Ware is totally Ware. When I interviewed Ware, I asked him if he could explain this spirituality to me. His words seemed less interested in defining anything than showing how they search for meaning. Music for him is a divine activity, a passageway into the transcendent: "It helps me to stabilize my sense of silence," he told me. "It's not a silence that people may really understand. It's a silence that's full of potential, it's full of bliss, full of happiness. It's who we really are. It's a silence that's full." A strange word choice for a man whose approach to the tenor saxophone is a brassy, fuzzed out, loquacious sort of eloquence, filling up the space around him to the brim. His solos, at first, assault the senses--leaping and pulverizing, never demurring. But his sheer virtuosity, strangely enough, does calm me. Its emotional power puts me at ease in a world full of strife. KREG HASEGAWA

THE DIRTBOMBS, THE REAL PILLS, STAGGER LEE, THE NEARLY DEADS

(Satyricon) From the depths of Detroit come the Dirtbombs, in which ex-Gories' Mick Collins brings his guitar (and two bassists, and two drummers) to pull you from your swampy slump with a blend of R&B, garage, and more rhythm than you know what to do with. Touring for their newest release, Ultraglide in Black (In the Red Records), they'll probably play that record's soul covers, including "Chains of Love," "Kung Fu," and the ever-sultry "I'm Qualified to Satisfy You." It won't be so ironic, though--though Collins has a pretty penchant for jokes, he takes his soul seriously. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

DECEMBERISTS, VESPERTINES, LIGHT HEAVY WEIGHT

(Lola's) The Decemberists soothe and lull with stellar songwriting that unfolds in stories--an idea rooted in folk, but pulled from the archaic by atmospheric guitars, soft drumming, and the occasional stringed instrument. Of course, there is the voice of Colin Meloy, scratching and knitting tales and legends like soft blankets for you to wear. There is doubtful a songwriter with a clearer vision in Portland. Prepare to melt. JS

ONE LAST THING, CROSSTIDE, JOSHUA AND THE BIG COLLAPSE

(Meow Meow) Wow. One Last Thing is totally emo, in the mid-'90s revival sense of the word, complete with metal-y guitars and two despondent guys harmonizing like they're about to die from heartbreak. It's not retarded J Church-style pop-punk! It's real emo! And it's done really well! If you are a fan and can overcome the embarrassing fact that you're being nostalgic for a very embarrassing genre that died so long ago (and kept your Boys Life/Braid records), you should definitely see them. JS

FRIDAY 8/17

THE OWNERS, CAESURA, DILUTE

(Blackbird) Caesura and Dilute may share a label and a hometown, but Caesura's brand of indie rock pummels headfirst with punk abandon. For those who would shout "math," I say drop your abacus and give me 20. Sure there are stops and starts, but Caesura is out to liberate melody from its prog captors. On their latest album, Escape Equals Light, recorded with Tim Green, they crib just enough from the dynamics of Unwound/Rodan/June o' 44 to make their originals crackle. At a recent show, singer Evan Cahill piled into Mike Shoun's drums, knocking them over, and they managed to sound all the better for it. Expect more of Evan's tomfoolery, perhaps the infamous "lobster helmet," and a general rejuvenation of guitar-rock. GEORGE CHEN See Music pg 17

EXODUS STARRING DJS SUPREME, BLES

(Seges) We're lucky to have DJ Bles at home tonight, because most of the time he's busy being flown around the country DJing for whatever event he's been commissioned to do. See, this DJ is special. He spins specifically for breakdancing events. Since he's also a dancer, he has much better understanding of what kind of music one wants when one is breaking than most DJs at breaking events do. As you might imagine, it's a lot of old school classics, but cut-up and pasted back together in a new way. If you don't like the music, I guarantee you'll like the dancing. KATIA DUNN

CITIZEN FISH, JUNO, TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS

(Meow Meow) Surely this listing is a typo, as it is one of the strangest lineups I've ever seen. For a punk band whose collective age is around 150, Citizen Fish offers insanely energetic, clever, and optimistic political content that WILL move you. Catch them before they collapse of exhaustion and die. Juno knows the time, with their DC-influenced, fuzzed-out guitar progressions and melodramatic stream of conscious lyric flows. The secret-surprise highlight will surely be Ted Leo, whose latest album on Lookout! consists of 40 minutes of the most catchy songs to latch into my consciousness and come out of my mouth in the shower since Madonna's "Into the Groove." JAMES SQUEAKY

X, SUPERSUCKERS, MAGSTATIC

(Roseland) Regardless of how long it's been since X put out a good record, Exene Cervenkova (born Christine Cervenka) is still one of the coolest ladies in music. Also, they were the first West Coast American punk band to really hit the big time, back when "slam dancing" was unique to LA and DC in the late '70s/early '80s. JS

THE JOHN DOE THING, SEAN CROGHAN, THE OBLIVION SEEKERS, THE VOLUMEN

(Satyricon) Punk's Sam Shepard fronts the seminal band X, but his solo albums are his motel chronicles. With last year's Freedom Is..., John Doe found his best setting so far for his gorgeous, smoke-cured croon. The lush arrangements and production displayed his singer-songwriter chops and introspective poetic shards. "Catch Me" and "Beat Up World" showed how weary punks' world-views grow to encompass tough-love acceptance. NATE LIPPENS

(Roseland) In P-town, hiphop shows happen so comparatively rarely that, when one comes that's really, really good, we feel like we should write the whole goddamn paper about it, or maybe sky-write it, or I don't know, do SOMETHING FOR GODS SAKE, PLEASE! Okay, so here's why, rationally, you should go: Aceyalone is only the best, most unique MC on the planet; his rhymes are so tight and snappy, you feel as if his voice is just one big ball of rubber, bending all over the goddamn place. And then there's the Living Legends, who are only the best, most melodic funked-out group coming out of the Bay Area. KD See Music pg 17

PROJECT PERFECT CD RELEASE, THANKSGIVING, BERING SEA

(Blackbird) Red 76 "Collective" mogul Sam Gould has recently turned his search-and-destroy, art gestapo tactics towards indie label territory. The performers tonight are all representatives of the new label's eclectic approach, but the spotlight is on Project Perfect, who are celebrating the release of their debut CD. PP's electronics are more like displaced musique concrete than bedroom-ridden IDM. The local duo arms itself with transistor radios and a handful of more sophisticated toys, twisting AM static into confetti rhythms and grainy, tonal explorations. The Bering Sea's slumbering, melancholic throb easily puts them at the top of the heap of local "space rock" groups (largely because their avoidance of the British shoegazer cliches so tied in with the genre). Rounding out the evening significantly is Thanskgiving, the hard-hitting rock trio led by avant-folk boy genius Adrian Orange. Those of you complaining about the lack of anything interesting happening in Portland should take this opportunity to come down to the Blackbird tonight to prove yourself wrong. SIMON GASKEN

SUNDAY 8/19

JAHEIM, SASSEY, LITTLE ROY

(Roseland) Jaheim sounds like the kind of "urban" music they'd only sell exclusively at Wal-Mart, except without the censor bleeps: canned R&B pseudo-rap. It is kind of funny, however, especially when he sings the word "officer" in this weird, trying-to-be-sexy voice. There is an entire fetish based on that sentiment, Jaheim, and it's kinda grody. JS

OWLS, 31 KNOTS, THE GET HUSTLE

(Meow Meow) I'm not going to write about Owls except to say I LOVE THEM (and also, see Music pg 17). If you haven't been graced with the head-scratching, ecstatic state of non-ironic, mathy-prog pleasure 31 Knots provides on almost a weekly basis (and you aren't going to San Francisco to see Shellac), then here's the perfect opportunity to indulge. Twenty minutes or so of a disjointed explosion of vaudevillian free jazz by the likes of the Get Hustle will be sure to extract at least a smile from your face. SQUEAKY

KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND

(Waterfront Park, Bite of Portland) God bless the idiot savant! I've always held a strong appreciation for musicians who write lyrics that are so absolutely STOOPID, they're brilliant. Like...The Ramones (see "I don't want to be buried/ in a pet cemetery.") Or...Steve Miller (see "You're the cutest thing I ever did see/ Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree.) And of course, the kings of the stoopid/brilliant lyrics, K.C. and the Sunshine Band. When it comes to putting that Kierkegaard back on the shelf and putting the brain on autopilot, nobody does stoopid with such butt-shaking aplomb as K.C. and Co. For example! In their awe-inspiring hit, "Shake Your Booty," K.C. says the word "shake" 89 times. In a three-minute song!! In fact, that's all he says other than mixing it up with the occasional "Shake your booty, shake your booty, wow wow, yeah!" And to be frank, there's never a need for anything more. Your job is to simply be seduced by the funky riffs, electrified piano, and crisp horns. Give that brain a much needed vacation, and let your booty do the talkin'. Shake! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

IMPROV NIGHT W/JORDAN HUDSON

(Blackbird) Spearheaded by the Operacycle's songwriter/uber-drummer, Jordan Hudson, this weekly improvisation series is intended to be the yin to the It's a Beautiful Pizza Improv Workshop's yang. With more of a focus on repetition and spontaneous composition than the potentially risky freedoms of sonic skronk, these evenings will feature a who's who of our city's freakier musicians, who will be invited to come down and become temporary members of Hudson's ensemble. Be sure to show up early, as things will be starting around 7 pm. SG

MONDAY 8/20

ARAB ON RADAR, DENOTE THE APEX

(Meow Meow) "Who Rocks the Potty?"

What is it with Providence? Industrial waste in the water, a mob-boss as mayor, the proliferation of art students and townies crossed with New England isolationism--no singular influence, or combination thereof could explain Arab on Radar's particular mutation of music. Whatever bit them must have gotten to the Farrelly Brothers (of Something About Mary fame) as well: obsession with bodily fluids, physical sight gags, and straight-up dumb behavior. Add to that matching jumpsuits, guitars with treble to 11, and collapsing no-wave beats, and you've got an Arab on Radar show. If the bratty inbreeding of US Maple and Men's Recovery Project sounds like your thing, go. Did I say I didn't like it? I laughed at Dumb and Dumber, too. GC

TUESDAY 8/21

30 ODD FOOT OF GRUNTS

(Roseland) We should all be ashamed of ourselves, for being part of a species that spends money on a band no one has ever heard (because if they had they would realize exactly how awful they are) just to gawk at a dude who made a movie once. JS

WEDNESDAY 8/22

KINSKI, GUESTS

(Meow Meow) If you have a penchant for getting extremely stoned and sorting your Spacemen 3 LPs in order of spine color, then maybe it's time you were introduced to Seattle's misfit epic fuzzy guitar and crash drum-happy Kinski. Minimal vocals (maybe because the singer sounds like Lou Barlow), just a humungous body-paralyzing ocean of sound to let your mind swim around in. Songs rarely shorter than 12 minutes; the entire set usually feels like one long revelation-inducing complicated piece that will obliterate your senses. One time I almost got hit by a car and died before a Kinski show and I didn't even care, if that tells you anything. SQUEAKY

KHAN & JULEE CRUISE, MISS B. HAVEN

(Dante's) Discovered by David Lynch, Julee Cruise's first-and practically only-CD, Floating Into the Night (1989), is a work of art that exists somewhere between dreams and death. We are not supposed see this little twilight world of hers; it's all very private and personal, and the listener, the admirer, the one who replays her songs again and again, is reduced the role of a pervert or rude intruder. Her voice arouses bad desires--meaning, you want to have sex with the delicate creature she presents, but somehow this is immoral, like desiring an underage girl or a blind woman. The itch of a thousand murderers was turned into an electric storm by Julee's numinous voice. Indeed, of the 40 or so wishes (itches) I have in the world, one is to watch her perform the jazz classic "Haunted Heart." That's all. I just want to watch her perform that song while wearing the clothes my dead mother used to wear many summers ago. CHARLES MUDEDE

(Red & Black Café) Go donate some bucks to the Rock 'n' Roll Camp (which will be in session, so perhaps there will be some campers there, woo!). For your kindness, you'll get to see lovely acoustic music by Cuspidor, kind of creepy but also very lovely music by Roy Tinsel, and sweet and sweeping pop by Gravity & Henry. Also, the band guaranteed to put you in a fantastic mood: Urban Legends (which stars Kathy Foster on drums and harmonies, who is one of MY personal girl rocker idols. She can drum and sing at the same time). We can all go and feel good and even weep a little because some of us are 500 years too old to attend the camp. (But it doesn't mean we shouldn't pick up an instrument!) JS See Music pg 19